Delimbiyr Vale
Delimbiyr Vale is an area in the North, encompasing the upper reaches of the Delimbiyr River. Geography The Vale is bound in the north by the Nether Mountains and to the south by the South Wood. The western edge is the High Forest and no part of the High Forest is considered a part of the Vale. The eastern edge is ill-defined but does include the Fallen Lands, once a part of Netheril. Two areas of the Delimbiyr Vale are often refered to as Upvale and Greyvale by the locals. Upvale is an area in the north of Delimbiyr Vale of open grasslands between Tall Trees and the Far Forests. Greyvale is in the south-west and consists of the area of grasslands through which the rivers Greyflow and Loagrann flow. Travel through Greyvale is often dangerous due to bugbear raids. Places of Interest * Dungeon of the Hark * Fallen Lands * Halls of Hammer * Hammer Hall * The High Moor * Laughing Hollow * Lizard Marsh * Loudwater, a town by the river. * Misty Forest * The Nighthunt, a tavern a day's ride east of Loudwater. * Orlbar * The Smiling Satyr, a tavern about eight farms southwest of Loudwater. History On page 30, El has a memory where he bows over an elven woman who's deathly wounded. Silver Fire springs around her. What is interresting, however, is that it comes from her, not El. Who is this elf?” (BTW, the page number Menelvagor cites is from the paperback edition of EL IN HELL, not the hardcover.) I consulted with Ed and provided this reply: “Menelvagor, Ed tells me that the dying elf woman in question is, to borrow your words, "someone else entirely." Unfortunately, she's also NDA. So we have a battlefield (in the past, Ed hints at least a few centuries, and we have a dying elf female known to El and dear to him, and yes, she certainly seems to be a Chosen . . . Ed wishes very much he could say more.” Well, now he can. So, scribes, NDAs DO fall. Once in a proverbial blue moon. Heeeeeere’s Ed! The battlefield in that brief memory fragment was somewhere in the upper Delimbiyr valley (on the eastern bank of the river, a little south of halfway between The Shining Falls and Hellgate Keep). The date was 882 DR, the Year of the Curse. The strife was the battle of Blades Afire (so named for a mighty high magic elven spell that made magical fire leap from sword to sword wielded by the elves, enabling them to do greater damage to the demons from Ascalhorn they fought), wherein elves of Eaerlann defeated a demon army. It was a Pyrrhic victory; the elves won the day, but their heavy losses left them unable to properly defend their realm against future attacks, whereas the demon force they exterminated was but a part of Ascalhorn’s strength - - so after Blades Afire, Eaerlann was doomed. The dying moon elf in Elminster’s arms, who spent her strength in several great magics during the fray, ensuring the elven victory but sacrificing herself in the doing (she left herself unprotected against demonic counter-attacks), was Duethaea Lauraunfeir (pronounced “Doo-eth-AY-ah Lore-AWN-fear”), a Chosen of Mystra whom Elminster had recruited and trained. She was young, vigorous, and strong in Art and will, but driven by her emotions, described as “spirited” and even “difficult” by her own family. Duethaea and El were close friends but never lovers, El regarded her as a daughter, and he thought her foolish to sacrifice herself for her land, though he understood why she made that decision (“’Tis unusual, indeed, for an elf to take the shorter view, and not cleave to the longer”) and later came to respect her for it. Duethaea was tall, “rapier-thin,” and preferred to go about in a battered old leather human warriors’ greatcoat, that came down to her ankles. She fashioned several multi-function magical bracers that enabled her to fly and hurl an array of battle spells, she had a “hard-bitten” face rather than great beauty, and far more than other moon elves of that time and place, she loved to drink ale and stronger beverages, befriend and spend time with halflings and dwarves, and keep close watch over ever-expanding human settlements and activities in the Sword Coast North, trying to see the wisest future for her realm and her people (and increasingly coming to the view that living with humans was better than fighting them and seeking to keep them out of the High Forest). Category:Valleys Category:Locations in Northwest Faerûn